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Go Back   Madabout Kitcars Forum > Mad Build Area > Sammio Builds and discussions

Sammio Builds and discussions Sammio bodied car builds and specials

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  #1281  
Old 25th May 2013, 08:11
mikmiglia mikmiglia is offline
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Morning Paul, basically yes the paint strip gun is good. Just about a foot away and concertrate on one area at a time. Move the gun across the surface side to side and if or when you see any bubbles come to surface , use a marker pen to ring them. If you dont they can lay flat once cooled down.
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  #1282  
Old 25th May 2013, 08:45
WorldClassAccident WorldClassAccident is offline
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If it anything like my G46 the bubbles will appear

Smooth before : https://plus.google.com/photos/11566...83436295169415

Apply heat
https://plus.google.com/photos/11566...83436295169415

Spot the bubble. : https://plus.google.com/photos/11566...83436295169415


Cut out the void : https://plus.google.com/photos/11566...83436295169415
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  #1283  
Old 25th May 2013, 08:45
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Mister Towed Mister Towed is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mikmiglia View Post
Morning Paul, basically yes the paint strip gun is good. Just about a foot away and concertrate on one area at a time. Move the gun across the surface side to side and if or when you see any bubbles come to surface , use a marker pen to ring them. If you dont they can lay flat once cooled down.
Hmm, I hadn't exactly forgotten this part of the prep, more just decided to leave it out.

Reasoning was that I'd left the shell out in the sunshine every day for two weeks last summer and no bubbles appeared. Coupled with my choice of reflective, silver paint I figured I'd be okay.

Now Mike's posted the bit about the bubbles shrinking back when the heat's off I think I'd better pop out today and buy a heat gun.

The only similar tools I have at my disposal at the moment would be my wife's high-end hair dryer, which is probably man enough for the job (but I'm kind of attached to my testicles), or my wallpaper stripping steamer. I could try using the steamer, but I'd be worried that the body would turn into a big papier mache blob on the garage floor.

Out of interest, has anyone else painted their Sammio without heating and digging out the bubbles? Have any appeared through the paint when the sun shines?
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  #1284  
Old 25th May 2013, 08:50
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Originally Posted by WorldClassAccident View Post
That's a useful guide WCA, it really shows the process.

Is it air trapped between the 'glass and the gel coat that's expanding?

Is it going to be a bigger problem on a car with a coloured gel coat?

Why did I decide to paint the car myself???
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  #1285  
Old 25th May 2013, 08:59
Viatron Viatron is offline
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Is it just me? Cant see any of those pics?
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  #1286  
Old 25th May 2013, 09:03
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Is it just me? Cant see any of those pics?
They work for me, pics open in a separate window when clicked.
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  #1287  
Old 25th May 2013, 09:42
WorldClassAccident WorldClassAccident is offline
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MrTowed - You could 'buy' a heat gun from Argos and take it back on Monday when you realise you don't need it anymore, just be careful with the packaging.








MrTowed - That was after my car had been sat outside for most of the summer. It had then been put into the garage when I snapped my foot off and it was only under the electric lights that I could see a few slight dents and dimples in the surface. The last picture shows what happened after I ran the heat gun closely over it.

Last edited by WorldClassAccident; 25th May 2013 at 09:44..
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  #1288  
Old 25th May 2013, 10:08
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I see. I won't be doing the Argos thing, not really worth my while blowing my pension over a moment's dishonesty just to save a few quid.

Out of interest, how do people who spec a car with a gel coat finish in preference to paint get on? Do their cars come out in a plague of boils when the sun shines?
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  #1289  
Old 25th May 2013, 10:36
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Mr T - Sorry mate, I didn't mean to kick a hornets nest with my heat gun question.

If it helps, here are a few of my thoughts...

AndyP57 did not use a heat gun on the original Cordite/Navigator demonstrator that was at Stoneleigh as that was one of my questions. That car was give a "pro" paint job in the silver that looked great in real life and as far as I know there has been no issues with the finish since.

You know my blue gel coat body shell has lived outside out in all weathers for almost a year and has not always been under a cover. It certainly hasn't broken out in boils during that time.

However, what I have noticed is that the gel coat has simply broken off in places when the body has taken a "slight", as opposed to being hit hard with a hammer, knock.

Deep down I believe this is more to do with quality control issues in the last days of the old Sammio company. You have seen the state my doors were in & some parts of the body are similar (I'll try to take some photos later).

So I would hope that your shell, being must earlier and having a "standard" gel coat is not going to be as big a risk as some of the "newer" kits.

Hopefully someone who knows what they are talking about will be along to tell you to "Keep calm & carry on painting".

And I can only apologise again for putting any doubt in your mind when you were so close to spraying a final coat and after all the hours you have put in to the prep work.

I really hope there is nothing to worry about, good luck, Paul.
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  #1290  
Old 25th May 2013, 11:56
phil9 phil9 is offline
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hi towed i did not use a h/gun on my car or barrys and we have had no probs ... as yet .. but if you need a heat gun i have one you can use cheers phil.
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  #1291  
Old 25th May 2013, 12:31
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hi towed i did not use a h/gun on my car or barrys and we have had no probs ... as yet .. but if you need a heat gun i have one you can use cheers phil.
Thanks for the input Phil, I didn't think you'd said anything about using the heat gun technique.

As both yours and Barry's cars are dark colours and mine's going to be a bright colour (soooon) I should be fine.

The plan all along has been to spray it myself (primarily because it's something I've never done before) and if it turns out to be a crap finish I'll pay a pro to do it properly in a couple of years time.

And don't worry about hijacking my build thread or stirring up a hornet's nest with questions like that. First off I'm really not that precious about it being my thread, and secondly, without people asking questions/pointing out potential problems/etc, there'd be a few glaring errors on my build - the dynamo mount being attached to the chassis rather than the engine block, for example

Anyway, just got back from the gym and I'll be off to work in an hour so no time to work on the car today I'm afraid. But the sun is shining and I'm aiming to be roadworthy within two weeks now. Deadlines, deadlines...
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  #1292  
Old 25th May 2013, 15:44
mikmiglia mikmiglia is offline
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At the end of the day pro paint job or not, If you have the use to a sprayshop oven , or just an heat gun , if your going to spend all that time preparing and the cost of paint, why take a chance and leave . Its up to you , its the gamble you take . I worked for sunseekers , from mould work to finishing , and the best laminators get voids and break outs at the best of the time.
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  #1293  
Old 25th May 2013, 17:03
WorldClassAccident WorldClassAccident is offline
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And it took me about an hour to do the whole G46 which is considerably bigger than a Sammio, and I was on crutches.

As mik says, why wouldn't you?
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  #1294  
Old 25th May 2013, 23:54
Nike55 Nike55 is offline
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Bookmarked

(Very..)
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  #1295  
Old 26th May 2013, 09:43
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Point taken Gentlemen.

So, how hot do I need to get the panels if I'm going to make any bubbles rise through the surface? Will I need to keep the heat gun on the spot until the primer starts to blister?

I'm still wavering on this one - Mike says it's an essential step and he knows what he's talking about, but Phil went ahead and sprayed his two cars without heating the shells and clearly, as his cars have been on the road in all weathers for more than a year with no issues, he knows what he's talking about too.

I had a chat with Phil about it yesterday, and we've come to the conclusion that the runaway success of the Spyder and the (over?) expansion into the G46, Cordite and 550 projects led to some, ahem, quality control issues with the bodies made some time after I picked mine up in July 2011.

Having seen a few of the late mouldings on this forum, it looks like the gel coat is rather tenuously stuck to the fibreglass, as if flow coat was slapped on afterwards rather than gel coat put in the mould.

The early body shells that Phil and I got, however, appear to be of much better quality. The dark grey gel coat isn't just stuck to the fibreglass, it's integral to its structure. Perhaps that explains why Phil hasn't had any voids appear. Could it be that there just aren't any?

And finally, I've hacked and chopped bits out of my body shell all over the place. I've chopped up the flat dash moulding to reuse elsewhere and cut, shut and bonded in the 550 dash. I've ground out half a dozen 'star' cracks that I caused by being heavy handed with the shell while moving it about, and I've completely sanded the shine from the gel coat so the etch primer could key to it.

So far, I haven't found a single void.

Last edited by Mister Towed; 26th May 2013 at 09:47..
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  #1296  
Old 26th May 2013, 09:44
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I hadn't heat-gunned my old car as I thought the same as you. I.e. having had it left outside for ages in the sun would show things up.

I can't remember any bubbles showing up on mine, but as Mike says, its a bit if luck-of-the-draw and if it is as quick and simple as WCA says in retrospect I would have probably have given it a go.
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  #1297  
Old 26th May 2013, 09:48
WorldClassAccident WorldClassAccident is offline
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I just ran the heat gun over the panel at about the pace you would move a paint brush.

No need to hold it in one palce for long as the bubble show almost immediately.

If you get a bubble then hold it there a little longer to make sure it expands properly.

It really doesn't take long, about 1 hour to do the whole body shell. I suspect your early body shells were better because my G46 was really quite shoddy
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  #1298  
Old 26th May 2013, 09:50
Viatron Viatron is offline
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I think youve hit the nail on the head T, if you were going to do the bubble test it should have been done pre priming, i think you risk damaging the current finish, maybe unintentionally if you start waving a heat gun iver the priner and filler now, move on and get the paint flowing!
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  #1299  
Old 26th May 2013, 09:57
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Viatron View Post
I think youve hit the nail on the head T, if you were going to do the bubble test it should have been done pre priming, i think you risk damaging the current finish, maybe unintentionally if you start waving a heat gun iver the priner and filler now, move on and get the paint flowing!
Thanks V, that pretty much sums up my reluctance to start pointing a paint stripping gun at my primed body.

Right, I don't start work until 4pm today, so it's time to get on with the final few hours of sanding and filling.

I'll be painting without doing the void thing - any builders out there who haven't started priming their shells yet I'd recommend that you follow Mike's advice, especially if you have a late Sammio shell rather than an early Sammio or new and improved Ribble/Miglia version.

And if I get loads of blisters popping up in the sunshine then you can all tell me 'I told you so'.
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  #1300  
Old 26th May 2013, 13:36
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So, that's another couple of hours spent smoothing down the little blobs of knifing putty.

I've found that there are a couple of areas, on the rear wings especially, where I've damaged/altered and repaired the body and I've left ripples and dints that I just don't have the skill (or patience) to get straight, so they'll have to stay.

There is a danger though, that the finished result is going to look like a 60 year old race car that's had a hard life on the track and been damaged and hastily repaired in the paddock occasionally in its past.

Hang on a minute...
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